


Overwhelming Might

by IronBeast



Series: Selene related stories [1]
Category: Monster Girl Encyclopedia
Genre: Corruption, F/M, Fighting, Lilim, Title Subject to Change, Transformation, angst as guess, battlefield stuff, im crap at tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 04:27:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30100299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronBeast/pseuds/IronBeast
Summary: All monsters want love, and Selene is no differentBut she has never taken time to consider just how unreachable people see her.
Series: Selene related stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2214825
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You may have seen this on my pastebin as the "untitled Selene story"  
> Well here it is, slightly tweaked as everything else moved to AO3  
> Enjoy

Selene released a pleasant sigh as she strolled down the newly paved road. All around her, men and monsters alike were hauling wood and brick along with the occasional magitek item that she really needed to remember what they were.

“It won't be long now.” She thought happily as looked at the beginnings of her new town.

Selene hadn't thought her arena would catch on to this quickly what with people beginning to set up their tents outside when the mansion could not accommodate them. As quite a few had plans to stay there for some time and she had the funds given who she was, in no time her workforce (and several of her visitors) had laid the foundations.

Renovating the old town also helped giving people a place to stay as the new houses and shops were being made, it was becoming quite the site.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard flapping, she turned around to see her assistant Lily land in front of her. “Morning, Lily.”

“Morning mistress,” Lily said as she straightened herself. “Will you be attending today's fights?”

“Probably the later ones. I might just enjoy the fresh air and see how the construction's going It's been some time since I just wandered about. Care to join me?” she asked. Lily nodded and the two started walking down the street.

“Have you thought of a name for the town yet, mistress?” Lily asked as they went along.

“I can't think of a good one, even the battle mansion might be renamed, or at least have some sort of `official` name,” Selene said as the two walked down. “Any news about the-”

“Lady Selene!” A succubus ran up to the two. “We have trouble!”

“Trouble? What kind?” Selene said. She was thinking that somebody back at the mansion probably got a bit too rowdy... again.

“Soldiers are coming from the southwest, they have order insignia!” The succubus shuddered.

That got Selene's attention. Was the order coming here? It was bound to happen eventually. Still, soldiers meant warriors, and warriors meant... “How many people are there?” she asked.

“At least thirty, not including the leader. They will be at the gates within the hour. What should we do?” the succubus asked.

“Gather some of the warriors, I'll port more if things get hostile, Lily will go with you to help while I shall meet them personally.” Lily nodded and took to the skies, the succubus that gave the message following after her.

Selene was trying to hide some excitement. Order soldiers could mean she could get a better fight than bandits and other undesirables. But she didn't want to keep her hopes up, this troop could just be low ranked rabble sent to investigate, the loss of such a group to the monsters would not be missed, a sad but honest assumption.

Reaching the southwest edge of town, She leaned against the open gate doors and waited. Soon, Lily and various other monsters gathered around her, giving her enough to match them in numbers.

Eventually, the sound of marching could be heard as the troop made itself known. They were all in uniformed armor, most of them equipped with swords or spears. They at least carried themselves like soldiers, which was a good sign.

What the succubus lookout didn't mention was that the group had a female priest with them, a woman dressed in white robes, wielding a staff with gold inlays. `that one could be trouble for the others.` Selene thought. 

The leader's armor was trimmed red and held the cross of the chief god. He was at least in his early 30's and had a sense of pride about him. When he reached a reasonable distance from the gate, He called out for his men to stop.

There was silence as the soldiers and the monsters stared at each other, the odd monster making a lewd gesture and the odd soldier shuffling. Selene decided to speak first “Welcome, what business do you have here?”

“You know exactly why we are here, Demon princess! I am Marcellus, the Falcon knight! You are sullying this holy land with your ring of debauchery, and my men and I shall put a stop to it!” He declared.

“Sullying? I've owned this land for quite some time, It's the fault of you humans for not noticing. Selene said with a shrug. 

“Then we shall be the ones to reclaim it from monster hands! Now return to the darkness you spawned from!” He shouted.

“And if I refuse?” Selene said, brushing some dirt off one of her horns.

Marcellus drew his sword and pointed. “Then I shall show you why the Falcon knight has been untested against man or monster.”

Undefeated? That certainly Interested her. “I hope you know what it means to fight a Lilim,” Selene said drawing her short sword. “It's been quite some time since I've had a decent fight. I hope you can entertain me.”

The knight stepped forward “Does the monster I'm slaying today have a name?”

“My name is Selene and you would do well take caution,” She declared as she stretched out her wings and let her power flow through her before launching forward. With a slash. Marcellus managed to block the attack only for the Lilim to knee him in the stomach and kicked him away. The knight stumbled back but stayed upright to deliver an attack of his own. Selene dodged stab after stab before parrying his blade and swiping him across his arm.

The Falcon knight fell backwards in pain and rolled to the side when Selene attempted to stab him while he was down. He slowly got to his feet as the Lilim laughed. “Really, this is what counts for undefeated these days? Have the standards of man dropped, or are you not as skilled as you say you are?”

Marcellus got angry. “I will not stand for this! Men! Take her out!” He ordered. The soldiers readied their weapons and rushed forward to take out Selene.

Selene was both excited and disappointed. “A true warrior would finish fights themselves, you coward. No matter. I may get my fill yet.” With a grin, she pointed her sword at the incoming men. “Everyone, let us have some fun!”

The monsters cheered as the rushed forward, Selene leading the charge, and the two forces battled in an all-out brawl. The sides were evenly matched, with both men being claimed my monsters while other monsters getting injured to the point they could not continue, lest their wounds become too great.

Selene herself was in constant movement. Cut down one man and kick another right after, smack a guy in the face with her tail that tried to get her from behind, grab a soldiers spear and spin both it and him around, clearing the area around her.

It was when the numbers were lowering what he say white portals open up, and more soldiers come out.` so that's why the priest was here, reinforcements if the going got tough.` She looked around, most of her side had left the field for various reasons while others had come to join the fray, but that still left the stronger end of the soldiers fighting. `So many soldiers... as fun as this is I can't let them reach the town.`

With that, she charged forward “Come on! Fight me! You wanted me gone from here right? You people aren't trying hard enough!” she shouted as with a single flap of her wings she jumped into the air and came down kicking a soldier in the face. Before fighting off the crowd she landed into.

~X~

Leon didn't want to be here.

He wanted to be back at home, sparring with travelling warriors, doing his job as a city guard protecting the people from bandits and brigands.

And yet here he was, in the middle of a battle against monsters, fighting with all he had because of that idiot knight Marcellus. He was a skilled man who had been in a few fights, that was true, but the ego he gained from those victories made him annoying a best and downright hate-able at worst.

So when the falcon knight heard rumors of some sort of fighting arena being held by the monsters and some travellers not returning. He used his hype to persuade the king for men to destroy the monster threat.

Leon thought that only knights and heroes had to go up against monster forces. While that was true he didn't know that soldiers could be ordered to go with them. Leon didn't care about monsters, he just wanted to keep himself out of trouble.

It went bad when the troop made to the site and it was discovered that a Lilim had laid claim to it, it worse when the Falcon knight folded at the first sign of trouble, and it got chaotic when the locals got up in arms to fight.

At the very least, he was able to keep up at least skill wise, he knew that monster hide was difficult to cut through and the combination of instinct and skill meant for a fearsome opponent on the average monster woman. He decided to keep it simple, dodge and counter with a knockout or deep wound, that should do the trick.

It was when he had scared of one aggressive harpy that he realized his fellow soldiers were running away, mostly in fear.

“Run!” shouted one soldier.

“The white devil.... it's unreal!” cried another.

“I don't want to be claimed” A third cried as he in panic as he ran past Leon.

Leon turned to where the men were running from just in time to see several soldiers be sent flying with one hit by the Lilim, her back turned to Leon as she started to laugh.

“Seriously, can no one last longer than one hit! Give me a challenge!” she said while laughing and looking around until she locked eyes with Leon. “Hmm? what do we have here?” she said more to herself than to him.

The soldier froze and cursed. The had the Lilim's attention. Maybe if he put more fear into his expression she would leave him alone?

The fact that she stretched out her wings and readied her sword with a grin made it clear he had no such luck. In an instant, the Lilim has closed the distance with one flap of her wings and swung her sword at his head. Leon dodged and then had to keep back stepping when she continued to attack, barely avoiding her strikes before he met her blade with his own. The clash made a loud ringing in his ears as both man and monster fell back a few steps.

The Lilim was no longer grinning, if any thing she looked deep in thought as she stared him down, before she struck again, this time a little faster. Leon decided to parry the blow, sending the sword to the side, he tried to exploit the opening by punching her, but she caught the hand with her own, the impact barely moving her.

The grin returned. Wider than it was before. “So it's not just a fluke, finally a man with some skill!” She said as they circled each other. Her red eyes gleamed in way that drew him in, sent a warmth through him that almost hazed his brain. “I want your name, human.”

“...Leon” He told her.

“Leon...” She said as if committing to memory. “Let's see how far you go, I hope you don't disappoint me! She shouted, resuming her attack.

The two of them seemed lost to the world, only caring about each other as their fight went on. Both soldier and Lilim got faster with their blows. With each clash she got visibly happier while he was losing breath and energy from the constant assault. His body shook with every blow and struggled with every counter, but he grit his teeth and pushed himself to match her, even if it got harder to do that by the second.

After getting knocked back for what felt like the 40th time, Leon fell to a knee. He was exhausted, and his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his mouth and take his lungs with it. Looking up he stared into the eyes of his opponent again. There was now a gleam there that wasn't there before and her face had gone red.

“Wonderful! To push me this far at this level, there is a great warrior in you Leon.” Her excitement was evident in the twitching of her tail and wings. “It's almost a shame you can't go any further, but that's human limits I'll guess,” she said. 

Something inside Leon latched on to her words. Can't go any further? Human limits? It felt like she was insulting him, he didn't like being looked down one, even if he was just a low-rank soldier. Sure she was stronger than him by a mile but that didn't mean he couldn't bring her down a peg before going down

Gritting his teeth, Leon stood back up shouted. It was so loud and unexpected that the lilim almost jump in surprise.

“Don't you look down on me!” He growled. Before he rushed his opponent, the combination of pain and the effects of getting cut with a demon silver sword was putting his body through a sensation he could not really describe, on he went, attacking his opponent with all he had.

The lilim was either tired her self or thrown off by his second wind, but he managed to get a cut on her cheek as she stepped back to dodge. The wound closed up almost instantly, but he had got her, he had hit her! He was going to go for another strike when everything started to glow and before he could question it, his world flashed white.

When the light left his eyes, Leon slashed nothing but air. Looking around, he saw that he was back in the gathering hall for the city's military. “What the hell? What happened? Around him were soldiers in various conditions, the only certainty was that a good number of men were left behind.

“It was a fail-safe teleportation spell.” He turned around to see the priest, Maria, approach him. “I had tagged the armor of both the first group and the reinforcements so we could get back here, those left behind either lost their armor or had their escape blocked by the monster's energy, I've yet to perfect it.

Leon looking around again, Leon did see random armor plates scattered about. “I see... What about Marcellus?”

“I don't think he made it, I haven't seen him anywhere, even so, the day is lost, clean up and rest, we will report in the morning and work our way from there,” Maria said as she walked off, Leaving Leon to his thoughts.

He made it out of this stupid battle in one piece, he had even squared off against that crazy demon! The look of that dangerous, beautiful monster lingered in his mind, his father had once said that some women were flowers that bloom on the battlefield, though he was sure he didn't mean a demon princess.

He didn't expect to get credit for fending her off, nor did he want it, fame brought the bad kind of attention in his head. So he was happy just to return to being a cog in the great machine, and just let that fight be his personal achievement.

He still clearly remembers what she said about human limits, and decided he was going to up his training, but even then he doubted he would see that beautiful monster warrior again.

Besides, Lilims are succubi at the core so she would be going after other men and forget about him soon enough.

~X~

Selene had stared at the spot her opponent just vanished from for some time. The only noises now where men struggling to get free from their monster captives

It was perfect, a man with swords skill few had, fought her longer than any had in the past, an excellent ending to such a great fight. And just when she thought he was done, he manages to nick her cheek?

It still tingled, the wound was long gone but she still felt it, she had taken hits before, many in fact, but the look in his eyes when he went for that second blow, that urge for her to take him just that more seriously.

It was that moment that Selene decided there was more that could be done here, more to see of this human beyond fighting, she wanted to see just how far he would go.

And then like that, he was gone in a flash.

Selene felt cheated, She assumed it was something to do with that priest, and that made her angry, she had thought about how that woman would be trouble for others, but to take her chosen man from her the moment she chose him?

Selene gritted her teeth, this will not be taken standing down! That man was hers...no, that man IS hers! The thought of finding out about this man, getting to him and laying her claim, it stirred thing in her, things her sisters once joked she didn't feel. There was work to be done.

“Lily!” she roared as she marched back to the town. At once her assistant appeared at her side.

“You called mistress?” the succubus asked.

“Gather, the unclaimed prisoners of battle and place them up somewhere, we will probably stage an event at the mansion for them in due time. Also, interrogate them and find out what you can about the soldiers and knights and where they came from for today's fight and have Carla handle the mansion fights, while I shall get ready to go on a trip.”

“A trip mistress? What for?” Lily asked.

“I believe I may have found my husband, Lily.” Selene said as she touched her cheek. “and I want to collect what is mine.”

Selene then to the air and flew back to the mansion. Laughing to herself about how interesting things had gotten.


	2. Chapter 2

Selene was restless.

It had been a week since the battle outside her budding town. Monsters celebrated by having intimate times with their partners and some of the female knights that were captured had been turned, joining in the fun one way or another.

As happy as Selene was to see this union of man and monster, she was annoyed by one simple fact.

Her possible chosen had been taken from her. Leon had been the best thing to happen in quite some time, a well-trained soldier that didn't mind getting rough, managing to keep up with her as she upped her power mid-fight. Sure, she would crush him if she fought without any restraint, but Leon had pushed her the furthest in quite some time. In fact, she hadn't enjoyed a fight like that since times she sparred with her sisters and old friends like Lily.

Her thoughts during the fight had drifted into more lustful double meanings, `How much stamina does he have?` `How much of him is power and how much is technique?` `Does he have a weak spot?`

Her entire focus was figuring out the man she had fought against. If it wasn't for that priest, he could be here! He could have been with her! Then again... Her mother always did say, that when you find the one you desired, you would cease to care about your surroundings. Maybe that was why she didn't notice the teleport spell?

Selene shook her head and sighed as she flew through the morning sky. It didn't matter how she lost him, what was important was getting him back. Leaving Lily in charge of the town, the lilim set off for the city of Aris, where the order's army had come from.

The city was was grand, large enough that she could see the order monastery for the air. `that could be a problem` Selene thought to herself as she landed near the city gates, being careful to avoid being seen. `If the strength of that priest is anything to go by, I can't just force my way to Leon without inviting all kinds of trouble.` getting a whole city up in arms against her would be trouble even for a lilim. She may enjoy fighting, but she knew her own limits.

Away from prying eyes, Selene closed her eyes as she pushed magic throughout her body. Her horns, wings and tail all faded from view. And her snow-white hair turned a common brown. Feeling the magic of polymorphing settle she opened her blue eyes and approached the town gates looking like a normal traveller.

The guards let her go through without any hassle (though they did take more time staring at her than actually opening the gates) and in no time she wandering the city streets of Aris, thinking about how she would start her search.

Usually, she would just sense him, but the number of humans in the area made it hard for her to narrow it down, the power the church was giving of didn't help things. So in order to find him, she would have to be close.

Looking around she could see that quite a few of the city folk were looking at her, with some form of either curiosity or desire, wanting to know about the beautiful stranger touring the streets. It sent a warm feeling through her to be the object of desire, so much that she almost had the urge to let her aura boost their lust and attraction and see their faces melting pleasure as they let themselves go and-

Selene shook herself free of those thoughts. She had to focus, with no battles or common goal to focus on, the feeling of various pent-up human desires was making her want to show them the love and pleasure monsters could offer. Still, maybe when the morals of this town were lighter, she could return and enjoy her visit to the fullest, maybe create another realm and connect it to her own?Saving that sort of plan for later, she divided perhaps it was best that she asked one of the town guards or one of the shop owners if they knew Leon, or at least where he could be.

Asking questions brought her to the City library, the reasoning that the citizen records were kept there. The place was quite large but nowhere near the size of the church. Entering it, Selene saw what she expected, books that filled the shelves large overhanging lamps for when night came, though those looked like they hadn't been used in quite some time.

The place was empty from what she could see apart from a woman seated behind the counter. She had long red hair, simple brown clothes with a pair of thick-rimmed glasses and was reading what looked like a novel to past the time, sighing to herself as she flipped a page. She was so lost in her reading she didn't notice Selene get close until she heard a throat clear.

With a jump, the woman put the book down as she looked up and blushed at the sight of Selene “Ah, I'm sorry! Welcome to the library, I'm Juliet, can I help you with something?” She asked with a smile.

“I am looking for a soldier that comes from this town, I was told I could find out where he could be from the records here,” Selene said.

The librarian shook her head as she pushed up her glasses. “Solider records are kept with the city guard to keep track of the men able to fight. You won't find anything here,” she said, still gazing at the disguised lilim.

Selene sighed, knowing it wasn't going to be that easy to track him down. “Perhaps you might know him, tall, somewhat muscled, goes by the name Leon?” she described.

Juliet thought for a second and then her face lit up in recognition. “I think I know him, he's a member of the city guard that sometimes does work for the mayor came in here the other day looking at old sword art tomes.”

“Sword art tomes?” Selene parroted with interest.

“We have quite a few of them, they all kinda went out of use as most of the militia here uses the order's sword and spear styles.”

That meant only one thing, Leon was going out of his way to get stronger! Her would-be husband could be training himself for a fight, Selene was internally getting a little eager, and hearing about Leon wasn't the only thing doing it to her.

She could feel a sense of longing in Juliet's eyes and almost taste her frustration. `This woman needs help... my kind of help.` she thought to herself. A full invasion was out of the question but helping a few people here and there would be okay, right? Juliet was quite the looker by human standards. She was sure she just needed the right push.

With that in mind, Selene dropped a little restraint on her aura and let it fill the air while she paid attention to the directions to where the city guard was based. When she felt that the time was right. Selene decided to get to work. “So, what was your reading?”

Juliet's cheeks turned a little red. “Just a silly novel, nothing special,” she said looking away. “I'm sure it won't interest you.”

Selene smiled “Really? Let's see, what's it about?”

“It's about a man and a woman who fight for opposing sides being trapped in the wilderness, and how they grow close as they fight to survive,” Juliet said.

Selene paused for a second. While she wasn't really one for books that actually sounded interesting to read. “I may have to ask for this book, nothing wrong with reading about romance every now and then.”

“Yeah, there are many good books to read,” Juliet said with a smile. “I teach the children once a week, so I have it's nice to get them interested in new things to know and find out. But romance novels are the best thing here.”

“This is a big library,” Selene commented. “There must be a lot of stories to read.”

“There many books I don't think I'll ever get round to reading. But I love all the tales of these people and the love they find,” she said passionately. “There are all sorts of tales, from star-crossed lovers to knights saving princesses, Every book brings something new.”

“You ever dream about requiring that love for yourself?” Selene asked.

The fire in her eyes dimmed as her smile thinned. “I... don't think so...” she drifted off.

Selene raised a brow. “Oh? Why not?”

“Life is not like books, not everyone gets what they want,” she said sadly.

“Maybe you should put yourself forward. Some men don't really notice until you show or tell them.” Selene suggested.

Juliet put a hand to her chin.“Do you think so? What if he doesn't like me after all?” she asked.

Selene grinned. “Him? So you already have someone in mind?” she teased. The spike of that longing emotion made it all too clear. `this will actually make this easier` she thought as ramped her aura a bit more, allowing the librarian to be more open.

Juliet blushed and started stuttering, “Well I... I mean... I think he's nice.”

“You want him, right? You want to show him your love and make him yours, right?” The Lilim pressed on.

“I...I do, but..” Juliet was starting to sweat and squirm in her chair, “What does it matter?.” she said trying to look away from Selene's gaze.

“Because I can help you with that, I can show you how easy it is to get the love you seek, who knows, maybe he already had feelings for you,” Selene said. Slowly working her way around the counter to get closer.

“He's only been around a few times, I don't even know him that well!” Juliet tried to protest. But the dazed look in her eyes show her resistance was slipping

Selene's grin only got wider. “Know him? That won't be a problem if you agree to accept my help. Trust me, when I'm done you have the love like in those books you adore and so much more.”

“I..” Juliet looked conflicted. Selene got behind her and started to massage her shoulders, making her relax. “Who... are you?” she asked, realising on some level that something wasn't right.

Selene's hands glowed a dark purple as she continued her massage. “I am your new friend Selene, and the one who's going to make your life better,” she whispered softly in her ear.

Listening to the sweet words and her offer more appealing by the second, Juliet surrendered herself to Selene. Thee lilim's worked on her for some time, her message making the librarian squirm more than once as new-found pleasure surged through her body, light grunts turning into moans as Selene's touch grew to be more intimate.

Juliet had no idea how long Selene had been at it, but she didn't want the sensation to end. She could feel something deep inside of her shift, something important, but under all the pleasurable feelings she could not focus.

~X~ (hours later)

The lilim was admiring the work she put into the Juliet as she kept touching her new cow horns and hair that now was partially white, her red and white fluffy tail swishing back and forth as looked around the library as if seeing it for the first time, clopping on new furry legs as a third eye constantly flashed as if it had a mind of its own. Her clothes hadn't changed much to accommodate her monster parts, but she was curvier and filled out her red dress with white embroidery.

Selene had opted to turn her into Hakutaku, bovine monsters native to the mist continent famous for their urge to both collect and share knowledge, a librarian like Juliet would definitely enjoy having the powers of one.

Juliet was also happy to find that polymorphing didn't affect her powers, and now she could almost read the entire library within a month if she desired. It was like dream come true.

“If more women become monsters, I'll send them here so you can have some friends to talk to,” Selene said. “I've also set a marker in one of the offices, pump some energy into it, and it'll open the path to my town. It works both ways, so myself or my assistant Lily might drop by.”

The new Hakutaku nodded. “that's good to know, thank you lady Selene.” Juliet said with a bow.

“What did I say earlier? I'm your friend, so unless I'm giving an order you don't need to be formal with me.”

“Oh, okay. So, are you heading for the city guardhouse then?” Juliet asked.

Selene nodded. Before they could continue talking, the main doors to the library opened. Juliet ran behind a bookcase to quickly disguise herself as a young man entered. He looked at the counter before turning to Selene.

“Uh... excuse me, is Juliet around?” He asked.

“She's a little busy, she'll be out in a sec,” Selene said as Juliet walked out from behind the bookshelves, her monster parts nowhere to be seen. Selene caught the look of recognition on her face and smiled when said look flashed a moment of unrestrained hunger `so this is the man.` she thought. “Well, I best be off, 'got things to do and all.”

“Thanks again for your help,” Juliet said as Selene walked out, The lilim giving a wave as she exited the library. Now back on the street with directions to the city guardhouse. Selene smiled, she was one more step closer to Leon.


	3. Chapter 3

It was absurd

So absurd that Selene wasted a few minutes laughing to herself.

After getting directions to where the guardhouse should be, she had continued through the city only to be distracted by an inn she almost passed. It was a normal inn, but it was inside that had got Selene a little giddy.

Somebody in there was a monster. And if the faint trace was anything to go by, they had been here for quite some time. To hide from the humans here for this long must mean she was quite good with either illusions or polymorphing.

There was also something wrong here, it fell like there was a crack and the energy was leaking out, whoever was in there had suppressed her power, but it was wearing off.

Curiously Selene entered the Inn, looking around for her mystery monster. The scene was typical from drunken patrons trading tales to travellers talking over food and maps, a comfy scene if any. Still, the presence she felt was nowhere in the room, so she must be upstairs. 

Selene then got a glimpse of the bartender and grinned. `this man...` She thought to herself as she approached the counter. The bartender had the look of a retired warrior, a strong build with greying hair.

“Welcome can get you a...” The bartenders greeting drifted off as he stared at Selene. His lips thinned and eyes narrowed before he continued. “Would you like a drink miss?” he asked.

“Shot of amaretto if you have it,” Selene said as she sat down.

“All ways took your kind of people for wine-only drinkers,” The Bartender said as turned around and took a bottle from the shelf. 

“Oh really? And what sort of person do you think I am?” Selene asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The kind of person that disappears with men in the night.” He said with a shrug. “You girls tend to do the whole `high society` thing.

“So you know what I am?” Selene asked as the man handed over her drink.

“Lady, look at the walls around you.” The bartender said. Selene did so and saw various large fangs, broken beast parts and trinkets. “I've been on my fair share of adventurers, you don't get to my age without learning a thing or two, and a beauty like you walking in my bar with half my regulars trying to steal looks? Come on now,” he said with a grin.

Selene nodded with approval. “I'm impressed. And here I thought my disguise was foolproof.”

“The average Joe maybe, but and even then I have my ways.” he tapped under his eye which brought Selene's attention to it. Before she sighed.

“Passive trace sight?” she asked and the bartender nodded. Trace sight was a magic learned order to scan for cursed items and disguises, and those who used it had a sparkle in the eye affected. he had seen through her the moment he looked.

“So I know that you're inhuman at least. I'll be fair and treat you like a customer, but I am a married man. I have no intention of being with you.”

Selene stared for a second before she laughed. “Don't worry about it, monsters know not to go after married men.”

The bartender sighed in relief.

“Besides...” Selene leaned in a whispered. “Lamias are clingy as it is, even I would hate to piss off an echidna.”

The bartender froze solid. “What th... but... how?” he stuttered.

“I can feel the energy in this Inn, and even if I wasn't as strong as I am whatever you have suppressing it and your wife's power is either defective or weakened enough that the average monster would at least know something's up,” Selene explained whispering.

“I...I get it.” He said as Selene reclined. “Thanks for telling me, we would be in trouble if the broke without our knowledge.”

“It's fine. In fact, I'll make you an offer.” Selene said before downing her shot.

“I'm listening.” The bartender said.

“I can work with your wife to boots your protection and suppression spell further then what they are now,” Selene said. “I'll do that even if you can't help me, it would be wrong not to.”

“And what do you want?” He asked

“Two things. The first is that one of the guards was conscripted into the invasion of a co-existing town not that far from here a while back. I have a name and a face, but I want to know more about him if possible. Selene said.

“Give me a name.” The bartender asked.

“Leon.”

“Leon?” he repeated with a laugh. “Let me guess, above average height, black hair, decent swordsman?” he questioned.

Selene brightened and straightened up. “Yes! Do you know him?”

“I taught the boy what I knew, hell I still spar with him when I have the time.” He said as he cleaned a glass. “He was an odd job mercenary before he was all but forced to work as a guard. 'real shame if you ask me.”

“So you're the one I have to thank for his skills. You've made a fine warrior out of him.” Selene said.

“Why thanks...say, I didn't get your name. I'm Peter” he said extended his arm.

“Selene,” she said with a smile as they shook hands.

Peter scrunched his face in like her name rang a bell but then shrugged. “Right then, why don't we get those spell out the way and we can talk more freely later?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Selene said as she stood up from her chair.

“Suzy!” Peter called one of the Barmaids. “I got business with this woman, hold the bar for a while will ya?” the maid nodded and he walked to the stairs, “follow me.” and he climbed the stairs without looking back. Selene followed him up a couple flights and down the hall to a large door.

Peter opened the door and gestured for Selene to come inside. Sure enough, in front of them was an echidna that had vibrant green hair and scales with blue skin. She had turned to the noise of the door opening and jumped a little in shock.

“I um... hello. I'm sorry, I don't usually get guests.” the echidna sad said fidgeting. “Especially monster ones.”

“No worries, I was in the area and sensed the protections here falling apart, so I thought I'd give them a little boost,” Selene said with a shrug, but then a thought came to her. “Although...” she drifted off while staring at the echidna.

“W-what is it?” She asked nervously.

“You feel powerful enough to maintain it on your own... and then there's the fact you're cooped up here instead of just polymorphing as I am right now... the only thing I know that fully messes with a monsters ability to do magic like that is...!” Selene's eyes widened and she grinned looking at the snake woman in the eye. “I guess I ruined the surprise, didn't I?”

Peter watched his wife's face turn a shade of red, quite a feat for someone with natural blue skin. “What's she talking about, jade?”

“She's talking about the early stages of pregnancy, darling.” the echidna said with a shaky smile. “You're going to be a father, Peter.” Peter almost instantly embracing his wife with happiness.

“'Congrats to you two. Say, would you want a gift from me?” Selene asked.

“What do you mean gift?” Jade asked.

“I think I'll reintroduce myself,” Selene said allowing her true form to shimmer briefly for the couple.

“Now I remember your name, Your the Lilim of swords!” Peter said in shock before he burst out laughing. “And You're going after Leon? I must have trained him better than I thought!” He exclaimed as he continued laughing.

Selene blinked. “Lilim of swords?” it was the first time she had heard of such a title.

“That mansion of yours has made you quite well known and quite a few warriors pass through here to get there. With all the fighting you involve yourself with I quickly became a thing for the commoners to call you that.” the bartender explained.

“I honestly didn't know. I do like the title, suits me well” Selene nodded. “Do you have a problem with me pursuing him?”

The man shrugged “Honestly, it's a good thing that you are, poor guy needs some excitement in his life.”

“Fair enough... Anyway, we've gotten off track, shall I fix the protections?” she asked. Jade nodded, so Selene closed her eyes and let her power link to the spells the echidna already set up as Peter went back down to the bar. Soon enough, everything was in order.

“So what are you going to do now?” Jade asked. “Are you preparing to convert this place?”

Selene shook her head. “Nope, can't do that.”

The echidna looked confused. “I thought that was part of why you were here, what with Lecastie and all.”

The Lilim sighed. “Lecasite was necessary, their crusades to kill monster kind was too dangerous to leave unattended. This place is different, I could flood this entire city with dark matter and use what was left to wipe the order from here, but a whole bunch of things could go wrong leading to chaos. And then there's the fact that the order knows me, taking this city over paints a target here and at my home for every nearby order city. An invasion would put you and any other monster here in danger.”

“I see... I didn't think of it that far.” Jade admitted

“Don't worry about it. Just focus on your growing family.” Selene said. Before she could continue, shouting was heard from the bar. “huh... wonder what's going on down there.

“Someone has gotten out of hand, could you go down and see what it is for me?” Jade asked. Selene nodded left the bedroom.

Coming down the stairs to the bar, Selene saw the woman causing an uproar. She was tall with honey blonde hair and wearing worn knights armour. She was also in the middle of an enraged rant.

“-You believe those old farts? This is bull! I've been a dedicated member of the guard for years, then they throw me away and for what? `speaking out`? `Getting too rough`? Ha! I swear if they weren't protected by the mayor I'd stick my sword so far up their di-”

“I think you don't need a drink today, Alexa.” Peter tried to placate the woman, but she just got angrier.

“Pete! You gotta let me have this! I've been booted out the guard and I need as much mead in me before I start looking for another job.” the woman shouted.

Her words had gotten Selene thinking. She was an (apparently former) guard along with Leon, maybe she could learn something from this woman. Approaching her she asked, “Excuse me, miss?”

The armoured lady stopped her ranting and turned to Selene. Inspecting her for a second huffing. “what do you want?”

“I'm looking for a guardsman, I was wondering if you could help me,” Selene asked. Peter rose an eyebrow but kept quiet.

Alexa looked on in silence before shrugging. “Get me a drink,” Alexa said.

“What?”

“Get me a drink and we'll talk, I'm not gonna take a no.”

“Fine by me,” Selene sat as she sat down and ordered, thinking this might take a while.

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, comments are welcomed


End file.
